I am damn glad I didn't have to go through all that without being able to speak Spanish...
Ah, there is an (unmanned of course) ticket desk opposite showing 497 pesos to Montevideo. So I have plenty of cash at least.
Now I get a chance to look at my passport, as well as the usual silly tourist bit of paper, I have a receipt for 46 pesos for the customs inspection. So I guess that ARS10 fee was probably legit, assuming the exchange rate is semi-fair.
For what it's worth, now I am here I believe I have visited, however fleetingly, every country on the continent with territory south of Ecuador. This gives an obvious possible overall plan for the next trip, assuming there is one. Obviously right now Uruguay holds the record for least time, but I plan to be here about eight days, so ultimately Paraguay will be last with four days and Peru a close second to last with six days. (I didn't just look that up, I remember noting the difference in the dates when I got the exit stamp from Peru.)
04:50. Terminal coming to life over last 15 mins. Some impressive sheet lightning in the distance but no thunder. Electronic displays now active which show the recommended company Nuñez has a bus at 06:30 but there is another with Chadre at 05:55, so once their desk is manned I will check it's the expected 6h and take that if it is. (Their printed signs show only a bus to Colonia at 05:55 so I want to be sure it's not Montevideo-via-Colonia.)
Kiosk is open but has no drinks except little cartons of juice. The bar/restaurant apparently opens at 5:30 so if time permits I will see if I can buy a cold coke or something there. Bought some biscuits at the kiosk but don't really fancy them, they are more there in case I start to feel desperate on the bus. Especially if I am there before check in time and hence can't shower immediately, I think a decent meal (the steak is supposed to be good here, and maybe they have chips too!) is first on the agenda once I drop my bags off at the hostel. And I am going to check the meal doesn't have tomato sauce on. :-) (I can/will eat tomato-based sauces, although I prefer not to, it's just ketchup I really dislike.)
Whoa, just seen a bolt of lightning. Yet no thunder at all. How far off can it be?
05:10. The 05:55 gets there at some time in the afternoon, it's not direct. He even recommended me to the Nunez service so I just bought a ticket for the 06:30. I may be able to eat something at the restaurant at least. The ticket says it's 497 but he charged me 510. It's probably some tax or something if I examine the ticket closely.
"Si no te hubieras ido" is playing. Makes me smile.
05:40. No hot food at the restaurant/bar place as far as I can tell (I asked about a hamburger and was told not til midday) but I have bought a two litre bottle of some local orange fizzy stuff which is at least cold, and being non-diet probably meets my calorific requirements for the day. Just hope I can squeeze it into my backpack as I still have a bit of water in the bottle already in there which I don't want to throw away. Exciting stuff.
Oh no, it is in fact diet, they just put the fact in tiny writing.
6:15. Bus came up as boarding on the screen so I am on the platform waiting as it isn't. I have not been this plagued with flying insects anywhere I can remember before, including that area by the road at 1am this morning. I am continually feeling the tickling of the fuckers landing on me. I put some of the spray I bought back in Buenos Aires (?) on at 4am and I just put some on now and it seems to do no good at all.
I will buy some spray here. If the platform at the bus terminal isn't just unfortunately plagued, they must sell spray that works here.
06:25. OK, I am on the bus. With luck I will fall asleep but I guess there's no point trying to force it.
14:25. We got in at 13:20. Taxi to the hostel no problem except you'd think we were in a war zone. Big built up screen between front and back which seriously cramps the back of a normal non-London-style taxi. Little tipping container in the partition for payment.
Checked in OK, first impresion of the hostel is it's not great. My twin room has bunk beds (I was half aware this might be the case but it still sucks), the door locks with a padlock (OK, but that always strikes me as so low budget), the shared bathroom is a bit school-changing-room rather than 'a bathroom which you get to yourself while you use it even though it's generally shared'. The guy who showed me round didn't mention the bar at all and I didn't ask. To be honest I am not desperate to meet other travellers and we will play it by ear.
I guess it's OK but at least when you're paying for a twin yourself it ain't cheap. I wonder if a hotel might have been nearly as cheap or cheaper. But of course the hostel lure is the possibility of meeting people, and I must admit I didn't check hotel prices.
Come down to some slightly too fancy & expensive restaurant recommended in my guide for what I hope is rump steak & chips. I didn't ask about sauce, it's from the grill so why would it have any.
I am not too hacked off but a bit grumpy. I did sleep most of the time on the bus, though I woke up briefly every so often, so not too blatantly tired. I hope food will pick me up, then probably back to the hostel to shower & change.
15:00. A very good steak an inch and a half thick. I am stuffed. Just need to pay up then back to the hostel to freshen up and maybe have a bit of a wander around.
No comments:
Post a Comment